1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for use in a portion of the overall process for manufacturing semiconductor devices such as ICs, the portion of the overall process being a process in which the semiconductor devices are treated as semimanufactures.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a portion of the overall process for manufacturing ICs in which the ICs are treated as semimanufactures is shown in FIG. 16. First, ICs are packaged in an assembling process before they are, in step S1, subjected to a lead cutting and bending process and the ICs are then subjected to a marking process in step S2. Thus, the assembling process is completed. In a test process performed after the assembling process, a receipt test is carried out in step S3, a burn-in process is performed in step S4, a final test is performed in step S5, a marking process is performed in step S6 and an appearance inspection is performed in step S7. After the above-described test processes have been sequentially performed, a delivery process is commenced so that taping of the ICs is performed in step S8 before the ICs are delivered.
Apparatus for performing the above-described processes will now be described with reference to FIG. 17. In the lead cutting and bending process, a lead processing machine 1 cuts and bends outer leads. In the next process, the model name, the trade mark and the lot number and the like of the IC are printed or stamped onto the surface of each of the ICs by a marking machine 2. The receipt test of the test process is performed by a test handler 3 and a tester 4. The burn-in process is arranged in such a manner that the IC is inserted into a burn-in substrate by an IC inserting machine 5. Then, an electric stress is given to the IC in a high temperature environment by a burn-in device 6 before the IC is finally removed from the burn-in substrate by an IC pulling-out machine 7. The final test is performed by using a test handler 8 and a tester 9 before the marking of the model name, the trade mark and the lot number or the like onto the surface of the IC, which has been subjected to the test, is performed by using a marking machine 10. Then, appearance factors such as the state of the marks on the IC and how the outer leads are bent and the like are inspected by using an appearance inspecting machine 11. The taping operation performed in the delivery process is performed by a taping machine 12. As described above, the ICs are treated by a multiplicity of processing devices as semimanufactures in the IC manufacturing process.
With increasing density of integration of ICs, the package contours have been varied significantly. Accordingly, a variety of IC accommodating tools for conveying the ICs from the processing device in the previous stage to set them to the ensuing processing device have been developed. For example, a DIP IC 13 shown in FIG. 18 and an SOP IC 14 shown in FIG. 19 are accommodated in tubes 16 structured as shown in FIG. 20. On the other hand, a QFP IC 15 shown in FIG. 21 is accommodated on a tray 17 arranged as shown in FIG. 22. Since there are a variety of IC packages and a special accommodating tool, selected depending upon the size of the ICs and the number of the outer leads must be used, the accommodating tools excessively increase in number.
Since the ICs are set to each of the processing devices shown in FIG. 17 in a unit of the accommodating tools, each of the processing devices is formed into an exclusive structure to adapt to the special accommodating tool. Therefore, the processing devices cannot be adapted to a variety of accommodating tools. That is, there arises a problem in that a change of IC packages in the subject stage cannot be performed in an actual fact and therefore a multiplicity of processing devices must be prepared to correspond to the various packages.